Assignment February 4/5 – Get Progressive!

As you have seen from our investigation of the Gilded Age, there was a lot of progress in the American economy, industry, urbanization, and immigration during the late 1800s early 1900s. However, progress comes with a price. Politics were controlled by the wealthy, and political machines were challenging they ideals of democracy in many of the cities. The income gap between the wealthy and the rest of the nation was enormous. The environment was ignored for industrial growth, and pollution and that is just destruction of resources became problematic. Cities were overcrowded, and tenement living was unhealthy at best, deadly at worst. People didn’t know what was going into their medicine or food. Monopolies were formed with large corporations controlling many of the major industries of the time, and workers’ worries were ignored or opposed by business and government. Women were second class citizens, lacing political, economic, and social equality. Who will respond to these problems?

The Progressive Movement emerged in the late 1800s and early 1900s to push for reforms in response to the excesses of the Gilded Age. We will examine what they did in their attempts to make America a better place on Monday – but you will definitely want to get some background. So, spend about 27 minutes and 48 seconds this weekend meeting the Progressives (before you watch the Super Bowl). How? Here you go …